s over, he
came, with no eagerness, and with unconcealed sorrow for the death of
his former master, to offer his services to Theodoric, who gladly
accepted them, and gave him at once the pre-eminent dignity of Praetorian
Prefect. His wise and economical management of the finances filled the
royal exchequer without increasing the burdens of the tax-payer, and it
is probable that the early return of prosperity to Italy, which was
described in the last chapter, was, in great measure, due to the just
and statesmanlike administration of Liberius. In the delicate business
of allotting to the Gothic warriors the third part of the soil of Italy,
which seems to have been their recognised dividend on Theodoric's
Italian speculation, he so acquitted himself as to win the approbation
of all. It is difficult for us to understand how such a change of
ownership can have brought with it anything but heart-burning and
resentment. But (1) there are not wanting indications that, owing to
evil influences both economic and political, there was actually a large
quantity of good land lying unoccupied in Italy in the fifth century;
and (2) there had already been one expropriation of the same kind for
the benefit of the soldiers of Odovacar. In so far as this allotment of
Thirds[83] merely followed the lines of that earlier redistribution, but
little of a grievance was caused to the Italian owner. An Ostrogoth, the
follower of Theodoric, stepped into the position of a slain Scyrian or
Turcilingian, the follower of Odovacar, and the Italian owner suffered
no further detriment. Still there must have been some loss to the
provincials and some cases of hardship which would be long and bitterly
remembered, before every family which crossed the Alps in the Gothic
waggons was safely settled in its Italian home. It is therefore not
without some qualification that we can accept the statement of the
official panegyrist[84] of the Gothic _regime_, who declares that in
this business of the allotment of the Thirds "Liberius joined both the
hearts and the properties of the two nations, Gothic and Roman. For
whereas neighbourhood often proves a cause of enmity, with these men
communion of farms proved a cause of concord.[85] Thus the division of
the soil promoted the concord of the owners; friendship grew out of the
loss of the provincials, and the land gained a defender, whose
possession of part guaranteed the quiet enjoyment of the remainder". It
is possible